Submitted by David Emmett on
Tech 3's Yuki Takahashi was the fastest man on the second day of testing for the Moto2 class at Jerez, just squeaking ahead of Marc VDS Racing's Scott Redding and Ant West on the MZ. Takahashi's time was half a second slower than yesterday's fastest man Toni Elias, who today was just 5th fastest and three quarters of a second slower than his time from Saturday.
So far, this final Moto2 test has shown how close the field has become in the class, and shaken up the list of favorites a little. The top 20 riders are all within a second of each other, with 20th place man Karel Abraham just 0.938 behind Takahashi. Kenny Noyes, the American who has been so fast in the earlier tests is now down the order in 12th, though still only half a second off the fastest time at Jerez, while Scott Redding had been languishing near the bottom of the timesheets in previous tests, and has now leaped up into 2nd spot. Testing concludes tomorrow.
Results:
Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
1 | 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | TECH3 | 1'44.552 | 0.000 | |
2 | 45 | Scott REDDING | SUTER | 1'44.600 | 0.048 | 0.048 |
3 | 8 | Anthony WEST | MZ | 1'44.614 | 0.062 | 0.014 |
4 | 4 | Stefan BRADL | SUTER | 1'44.737 | 0.185 | 0.123 |
5 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | MORIWAKI | 1'44.775 | 0.223 | 0.038 |
6 | 16 | Jules CLUZEL | SUTER | 1'44.857 | 0.305 | 0.082 |
7 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | SCOT | 1'44.895 | 0.343 | 0.038 |
8 | 60 | Julian SIMON | RSV | 1'44.933 | 0.381 | 0.038 |
9 | 6 | Alex DEBON | FTR | 1'44.963 | 0.411 | 0.030 |
10 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | SUTER | 1'44.971 | 0.419 | 0.008 |
11 | 44 | Roberto ROLFO | SUTER | 1'45.009 | 0.457 | 0.038 |
12 | 9 | Kenny NOYES | PROMOHARRIS | 1'45.084 | 0.532 | 0.075 |
13 | 48 | Shoya TOMIZAWA | SUTER | 1'45.149 | 0.597 | 0.065 |
14 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | MORIWAKI | 1'45.240 | 0.688 | 0.091 |
15 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | BQR MOTO2 | 1'45.240 | 0.688 | 0.000 |
16 | 2 | Gabor TALMACSI | FTR | 1'45.286 | 0.734 | 0.046 |
17 | 80 | Axel PONS | KALEX | 1'45.331 | 0.779 | 0.045 |
18 | 25 | Alex BALDOLINI | I.C.P. | 1'45.357 | 0.805 | 0.026 |
19 | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | BIMOTA | 1'45.463 | 0.911 | 0.106 |
20 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | RSV | 1'45.490 | 0.938 | 0.027 |
21 | 59 | Niccolo CANEPA | SCOT | 1'45.568 | 1.016 | 0.078 |
22 | 40 | Sergio GADEA | KALEX | 1'45.618 | 1.066 | 0.050 |
23 | 35 | Raffaele DE ROSA | TECH3 | 1'45.641 | 1.089 | 0.023 |
24 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SUTER | 1'45.806 | 1.254 | 0.165 |
25 | 53 | Valentin DEBISE | ADV | 1'45.955 | 1.403 | 0.149 |
26 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | RSV | 1'45.973 | 1.421 | 0.018 |
27 | 3 | Simone CORSI | TSR | 1'45.994 | 1.442 | 0.021 |
28 | 39 | Robertino PIETRI | SUTER | 1'46.168 | 1.616 | 0.174 |
29 | 75 | Mattia PASINI | TSR | 1'46.198 | 1.646 | 0.030 |
30 | 61 | Vladimir IVANOV | MORIWAKI | 1'46.254 | 1.702 | 0.056 |
31 | 52 | Lukas PESEK | MORIWAKI | 1'46.422 | 1.870 | 0.168 |
32 | 76 | Bernat MARTINEZ | BIMOTA | 1'46.602 | 2.050 | 0.180 |
33 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | FTR | 1'46.624 | 2.072 | 0.022 |
34 | 95 | Mashel AL NAIMI | BQR MOTO2 | 1'46.736 | 2.184 | 0.112 |
35 | 41 | Arne TODE | SUTER | 1'46.749 | 2.197 | 0.013 |
36 | 5 | Joan OLIVE | PROMOHARRIS | 1'46.756 | 2.204 | 0.007 |
37 | 10 | Fonsi NIETO | MORIWAKI | 1'46.827 | 2.275 | 0.071 |
38 | 21 | Vladimir LEONOV | SUTER | 1'46.932 | 2.380 | 0.105 |
39 | 27 | Vincent LONBOIS | SUTER | 1'47.331 | 2.779 | 0.399 |
40 | 88 | Yannick GUERRA | MORIWAKI | 1'47.425 | 2.873 | 0.094 |
Comments
Top 20 covered by a second
And 9 125/250 grand prix winners outside of that 1 second bracket (and 10 inside of a second from the top). I think it's time for a Poggiali comeback. It can't hurt to try!
Go Westy on the CBR600
Go Westy
ON a modifed CBR600.
besides the race glass being from last years CBR600 dont you think the green frame paint just hides the orginal Honda frame.
The MZ
The MZ is now in its third iteration, and is significantly changed. The frame is pretty different (though the geometry is still similar), and they've been using a revised swingarm. Besides, if they do turn up at Qatar with a CBR600 frame, they'll be disqualified, as the rules clearly state that the chassis must be prototype.
They all have the same engine
So why is it a surprise that times are close? No strong engines, no dogs, same over-rev capability, similar frontal profile- they should have very similar top speeds, limited drafting, similar off corner acceleration, in other words the variables to having varying lap times have been limited. I tend to think that small differences in chassis behavior will be the main differentiating factor in performance with riders coming in 2nd.
As far as performance goes, forget 250s, these times are comparable to last year's CEV Buckler SuperSport 600cc race with bikes that are _23kg heavier_. When riders with the experience of Tony Elias are only a couple of tenths off of unknown riders' times there is not likely much advantage to trying to override the bike, like Elias could sometimes do on the 990s. In this case the rider is not making a difference. I mean this guy could run with Rossi on a good day and here he's mid-top 10.
This lack of differing engine characteristics may lead to extremely processional racing as nobody can exploit a weakness in a competitor's powerband on corner exit or straight.
F1 qualifying lap times are usually very close, and that is usually how they finish. We'll see how moto2 does soon.
Chris
moto2-usa.blogspot.com